Testimony outlines Bryan' role in Arbery's death

Larry Hobbs, The Brunswick News, Ga.
·5 min read

Nov. 16—William "Roddie" Bryan was working on his front porch when he first saw Ahmaud Arbery appear on the road in front of his Satilla Shores home on the afternoon of Feb. 23, 2020.

The trial of the three White men accused of murder in the death of the 25-year-old Black man resumed Monday with a GBI agent continuing where he left off with his testimony from Friday afternoon.

Travis McMichael, 35, Greg McMichael, 65, and the 52-year-old Bryan are being tried on charges that include murder, aggravated assault and false imprisonment in the killing of Arbery.

Arbery ran as Travis McMichael and his father, Greg McMichael, pursued him in a pickup truck, both men armed, according to video and court testimony.

Bryan went inside his home at 307 Burford Road, where he kept a rifle, but stepped back outside and joined in the chase carrying only his cellphone and the keys to his 2018 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, defense attorney Kevin Gough noted.

"Mr. Bryan came out there armed only with his cellphone?" Gough said Monday morning, a question directed to Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Jason Seacrist on the witness stand.

"And his vehicle," Seacrist replied, asserting his contention that Bryan used his pickup truck as a weapon against Arbery that day.

All three have remained in the Glynn County Detention Center since their arrest in May 2020.

The three men pursued Arbery as he ran through the neighborhood for about five minutes, a chase that ended with Travis McMichael shooting the unarmed Arbery at close range with buckshot as the two men struggled for possession of McMichael's Remington 12-gauges shotgun.

Investigators contend that Bryan used his pickup truck to block Arbery's escape several times leading up to the deadly shooting, which Bryan recorded with his cellphone as he followed Arbery.

Gough noted that Arbery did not carry a firearm and that he was not working in concert with the McMichaels prior to joining the chase. But just as prosecutors have argued, Seacrist made it clear that GBI investigators believe Bryan used his 2018 Silverado pickup as a weapon against Arbery that day.

Defense attorneys say Arbery died as a result of self-defense that occurred while the defendants were effecting a citizen's arrest. The prosecution asserts that Arbery was murdered while jogging on a public street.

Gough has taken strides in recent days toward separating Bryan from the McMichaels, who began chasing Arbery at around 1:08 p.m. that day after Arbery ran past their home on Satilla Drive.

The McMichaels suspected him of various wrongdoings in the neighborhood based on his appearance on surveillance cameras inside a house under construction at 220 Satilla Drive, according to testimony. However, Arbery never took anything or caused harm inside the open structure, according to testimony from the owner of the house and county police.

The elder McMichael is seen on police body camera the night of Feb. 11, 2020, speculating with a county police officer that biggest possible crime of the individual seen on the video might have been criminal trespass.

But Bryan knew nothing of the goings-on at 220 Satilla Drive or the McMichaels' suspicions, Gough has noted during testimony with various law enforcement. Bryan knew the McMichaels only in passing.

According to Seacrist's testimony, Bryan saw the commotion on the road in front of his house and called to the McMichaels: "'Y'all got this, or do you need help?'" Bryan's home security camera system captured the events that unfolded in front of his residence that day.

Prosecuting attorneys asked Seacrist and other law enforcement witnesses if Bryan ever asked Arbery if he needed help or if he was in distress before deciding to assist the McMichaels. He did not.

Seacrist asked Bryan why he pursued Arbery. According to the GBI agent, Bryan said his "instinct" told him that Arbery had "done something wrong."

When Bryan went inside to get his truck keys, he did not run, Gough noted. Gough went on to point out that Bryan also did not pick up a hammer even though it "was a weapon handy" within reach from the work he had been conducting on the porch.

Again, Seacrist testified, Bryan's criminal role emerged from his "trying to chase Mr. Arbery like he did" with is pickup truck.

After the McMichaels were arrested but before he was charged, Bryan agreed to give Seacrist a driving tour of the route he took after leaving his driveway. Arbery was running back down Burford Road just as Bryan was pulling out of his driveway. Bryan pulled out into the path of Arbery, forcing Arbery into the ditch across the street with his pickup truck, Seacrist said.

At one point, GBI agents said Arbery came in contact with the Silverado pickup as Bryan tried to block him, leaving a right palm print behind the driver's side door. Gough has termed this contact as Arbery attempting to climb inside the truck, referring to it on several occasions as an "attempted carjacking."

Alluding to Bryan's ignorance of events leading up to his involvement in the incident, Gough again tried to describe Arbery as the aggressor.

"The first crime Mr. Bryan witnessed that day was Mr. Arbery trying to get into his truck, isn't that right?" he asked Seacrist.

"Unless you discount the fact that someone was trying to run him down while Mr. Arbery was legally running down the road," Seacrist responded.

Before making their decision to arrest Bryan, the GBI conducted about five hours of interviews with him, Seacrist said. By comparison, he estimated the Glynn County Police Department conducted about 30 minutes of interview time with Bryan prior to that.

Also taking the stand Monday was GBI crime lab firearms scientist Brian Leppard, who testified that the shotgun shell's "lead balls" from Travis McMichael's 12-gauge struck Arbery at "contact, or near contact," meaning McMichael fired at roughly point blank range.

Others testifying Monday included Lawrence Kelly, a GBI special agent with cellphone data extraction expertise, and Anne Kisler-Rao, a GBI forensic scientist specializing in handprint and fingerprints.

The trial will resume 9 a.m. Tuesday.

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